there have been a lot of bright spots with the C4, and Burke this season, maybe you forgot:
1. Alec scoring 20 or more 12 times this season, scoring 30 or more twice, and averaging 14 pts a game and getting to the free-throw line over 5x a game, while only playing 27 minutes. Not bad for a kid most people thought was a bust last season. His PER is now above league average at 16.28
2. Hayward being among an elite handful of NBA players to average at least 16, 5, and 5. Also seeing his stls go up to 1.5 a game. Yes, he has struggled to shoot, but instead of forcing the issue and stifling everyone elses development, he brought his FGAs down around where they should be. Despite his shooting struggles, he still managed to post a PER above league average at 16.27
3. Kanter, took an enormous amount of flack from the media and fans for the Jazz poor start. He was scapegoated by his own coach and teammates even. He made Shaq'n-a-fool twice. He went from playing legit starters minutes at the beginning of the season to being benched and playing a season low 12 minutes on Dec. 13th, to slowly finding himself back in the rotation and playing a season high of 42 mins on March 14th, to having his role jerked around a million times between and since. Through it all, he has brought effort every single game. He hasn't always known what to do on the court, or where to be, but he's always tried. His rebounding was slumping in the early part of the season to a point where his per 36 had him grabbing like 6.something to where he is now averaging 9.7 per 36, and probably more since his 19 REB game tonight has yet to be calculated. Since mid-March, specifically the Clippers game, his defensive rotations have looked a lot better (but maybe you hadn't noticed since our perimeter D went to **** as RJ and Trey hit their rookie and vet walls). Despite playing more minutes this year than his first two years combined (which still aren't even starters minutes), and against starters, his TOs have dropped by 1 whole TO a game. Kid was ****ed with all year, had no offseason, etc, and he still has shown great development. He is far from a finished product, but all signs point to him having what it takes to reach greatness. Despite all of his struggles this season, he still managed to post an above average PER of 15.12
4. Favors has looked absolutely dominant at times this season. San Antonio game anyone? Since the mid-March Clippers game he and Kanter have figured out how to be effective together as well. He has been wildly inconsistent offensively, but he should be praised for trying new things and trying to expand that part of his game. He has matured as well. I thought it took a lot for him to man up in that interview with Locke and admit that he plays down to competition when he perceives them as not being as good as him. As of mid-season, he has been manning up for the games when he coasts. That is big. He's realizing that he is in charge of his mentality, and therefore how good he will be. This was a big year for D. Favs. Sky is the limit for him, and next year I am expecting the stars. He posted a team high PER of 18.70
5. Jeremy learned to shoot. I mean seriously, Jeremy Evans learned to shoot?!? Maybe this offseason he can work on ball handling and lateral quickness so he can play SF, where he'll have a chance of being effective. Evans posted an above average PER of 16.36
At this stage, everyone of our core, save Trey who is still a rookie, and Gobert who didn't get any time, are posting above league average PER's. This is especially heartening for players like Burks and Kanter, who for all intents and purposes, are basically 2nd year players given the amount of DNP's and crap minutes they had in prior years.
I think our core players played exceptionally well given the circumstances. Corbin exposed a lot of weaknesses instead of hiding them, and only gave Hayward 36 minutes a game. Everyone was thrust into a new role, and everyone of the C4 plus Evans proved that they are above average NBA players. Kanter and Burks still have the potential to show us even more given the minutes they've played, while Favors and Hayward can become more consistent with more experience, chemistry with teammates and a new coach who puts them in positions to succeed.
